30 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
some string in the tree. When the bird 
saw the string it took it and began to 
weave it in. I couldn’t stay long enough 
to see it finish its nest. 
When I came the next day it was fin¬ 
ished. In about four or five days it had 
four eggs. They were white with brown 
spots on them. I suppose the next time 
I look I will see some little kingbirds 
there. Yours truly, 
Aged 12., Frederick Denicke. 
Mazomanie, Wis., Oct. 5, 1908. 
Dear Wavside: 
j 
Our Audubon society started this 
month. We meet every two weeks. We 
have our exercises on Friday. There 
are forty-eight that belong out of our 
room. We have a lot of new members. 
We have all new officers this year, which 
are George Mckee, president; Richard 
Royston, vice president; Violet Coldwell, 
treasurer, and I am secretary. There 
are twenty-four people that want Audu¬ 
bon pins. 
Yours very truly, 
Edna Sharratt, secretary. 
East Dubuque, Ill., April 26, 1908. 
Dear Wayside: 
One day as I was out in the yard I 
looked in a tree and saw a flicker’s nest. 
I was careful not to say anything when 
boys were around that I thought would 
harm them. The fourth day of July 
when we had a picnic some boys came 
over. In some way they found out that 
there was a flicker’s nest up in the tree, 
and began to climb it. One of the boys 
took a stick and thrust it into the nest. 
Then he took a gun and shot it into the 
nest so as to scare the birds. 
The flicker eats insects from the tree. 
His nest is like that of a woodpecker. 
They have a red spot on their head, a 
yellow tail, and his body is brown flecked 
with white. 
Yours truly, 
Aged 8. Marie Boesch. 
Appleton, Wis. 
Dear Wayside: 
Last year a chipping sparrow made 
his home in our vines on the porch. He 
had a chestnut colored crown. His back 
was black, brown and gray. He had a 
black bill and his breast was a grayish 
white. 
He made a neat little hair-lined nest 
of fine straws and sticks and horse hair. 
One year he built his nest on the back 
porch. The first year there were only 
three little birds because one of the eggs 
fell out and broke. The second year 
there were four. 
After the eggs were laid the mother 
bird sat on them for about two weeks. 
One day when I looked into the nest 
there were four very homely looking 
birds. Then the father and mother birds 
were very busy bringing food to the 
young birds. Whenever one of the birds 
flew near they would all open their 
mouths as wide and possible. They 
seemed to be all head and no body. 
They grew very fast and in a little while 
were able to fly. 
Yours truly, 
Aged 14. Flossie Hanson. 
Appleton, Wis., May 20, 1907. 
Dear Wayside: 
Once I found a chimnev swift in the 
%/ 
field and picked it up and took it home. 
It acted as if it were dead. Then I put 
it in a cage, but it would not fly, but 
about seven o’clock in the evening when 
I put it out in a tree, and after I watched 
